Yachats’ new city manager believes her “can-do” spirit and work ethic will bring stability to position plagued by turnover

 

By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews

When December dawns the slippery reins of Yachats city manager will fall into the capable but untested hands of Waldport native Bobbi Price who credits her family for instilling the can-do spirit that has characterized her career.

Price graduated from Waldport High School in 2001, attended Portland State University for just over a year before deciding that home was where she wanted to be and that rolling up her sleeves and working hard would provide ample opportunities.

“The work ethic that I have and drive to build a better future, there’s no doubt that comes from my parents,” said Price, whose great-great grandparents homesteaded along the Alsea River. “I’ve always been given a tremendous amount of support from my family and knowing I have that gives me confidence to take on big challenges.”

On Friday, Price, 40, becomes Yachats’ seventh city manager or interim manager in the past eight years. The city council that hired her hopes she can bring stability to the position, to staff, and to dozens of issues the city faces.

Price first went to work at the Embarcadero Resort Hotel & Marina in Newport before landing a job as a program manager for the Newport Parks and Recreation Department. That is where she learned to write grants, her first effort winning $500,000 to build Coast Park in Nye Beach.

“I have always jumped into positions that I knew I would have things to learn from, but that I also knew I had the support to learn from seasoned and skilled mentors and community members,” Price said in an interview with YachatsNews. “Each position, from the time that I started at the city of Newport, I put my whole heart into what I do.”

It was during her time with parks and recreation that she met her husband of 20 years, Brian Price, who today works as a carpenter with Family Farm Enterprises.

Price would go on to work for the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce where she began to coordinate aspects of the Newport Seafood & Wine Festival before finally managing the event.

During her time at the Newport Chamber, Price and her husband had two children, Nolan, now 11, and Isla, now 5. They live along the Alsea Highway in the home Price’s grandparents, who owned Nyhus Logging, lived in for 40 years.

Price worked 13 years at the Newport chamber before she was recruited 14 months ago to be the Yachats chamber’s executive director. She revitalized the organization by rebuilding the board, adding quarterly meetings, updating its website, expanding tourism promotion, winning grants, and growing business and individual memberships from five in 2022 to 91 currently.

Price was one of three finalists for the city manager’s job after interim manager Rick Sant made clear he would be stepping down Nov. 1. Sant, a retired newspaper executive, had offered to help after city manager Heide Lambert resigned last May after 15 months.

After one of the three candidates withdrew from consideration in the 11^th-hour, the city council announced no one would be hired and it would resume the manager search after the New Year. But after re-considerating — and an outcry of support for Price — the council reversed its decision and announced her hiring Oct. 26.

She will be the seventh person to fill the role of city manager since voters approved a switch from a strong mayor form of government to a city manager/city council structure in 2014. The position has proved a tightrope of balance between managing staff, moving projects forward and juggling directives from city council and numerous commissions and committees.

Price refers back to her family foundation, from her parents on through to her great-great grandparents, in providing her with an “inherent faith in myself and a knowledge that I can do hard things.”

Price participated in an email Q&A with YachatsNews about her upcoming job, which officially begins Friday. Her answers have ben edited lightly for style and brevity.

Question: What attracted you to apply for the city manager’s job? Did others suggest you do so? Or was it your idea? Or a combination of both?

Price: It was a combination of both. Honestly though, this is a career path I hadn’t considered before it presented itself and I saw it as an opportunity for professional growth and development.

After seeing interim city manager Rick Sant in his role at city hall and how the team was humming along and working together with a positive outlook, I started to think long and hard about the possibility of city management.

I took a deep dive into what the position entails, reading books by practitioners of city management, reviewing articles, listening to podcasts, and watching YouTube videos from the League of Oregon Cities and the International City Management Association (ICMA). I connected with an ICMA mentor city manager and talked to city managers with whom I already had connections. I shared with them what experience I would bring and what I would need to learn. Their expertise and knowledge gave me faith that I could apply my experience and expertise to this role and be successful.

Ultimately, my deciding factor was the confidence and support I received from my family, the chamber, and the community.

Q: What in your past work and personal history helps prepare you for a municipal leadership position?

BP: As I was studying and researching the position and analyzing it to see if it was the right fit, I was thinking back on my career and noticing that I had spent the last 13 years preparing for city management in Yachats without knowing I was doing so.

As the manager of the Newport Seafood & Wine Festival, I was essentially building a city on a vacant lot year after year that would have over 20,000 people visiting it in a weekend. This necessitated high-level budgeting, management, and communication; collaboration with staff, committee members, volunteers, vendors, and contractors; and hiring companies, the fire department, the police department, waste management, and the county health department. It also requires emergency preparedness plans and the ability to make quick and sound decisions for the town and its patrons’ safety, which I was tested on more than once.

The event wouldn’t be possible without the committed volunteer committee and weekend volunteers. The committee members acted as managers of their event “departments” and worked with volunteers to execute their work during the event. I spent a great deal of time building them up as a team and ensuring they had all the tools to execute their job, all while remembering that they were volunteers and appreciating them for the time they were committing and their dedication to the event’s success.

This reminds me of Yachats. The town has many committed, skilled people volunteering in various capacities to help the team at city hall, contributing to the city’s vibrancy. Since I come from a history of depending on a village of capable volunteers to create successful outcomes, I will align uniquely with how Yachats gets things done.

Q: The mayor and council have made it a priority to get you help, advice and/or counsel on certain technical aspects of the city job that you may not have come across in your previous work. What are those exactly and how will all that work or be handled?

BP: Yes, I appreciate their willingness to invest in my career as city manager. We have a great development plan in place that we all feel comfortable with. I have enrolled in the ICMA with membership and training. My first course is, as the ICMA explains it, “designed for early to mid-career professionals” and “goes back to the basics – grounding you in the key skills and practices that are the foundation to becoming an effective local government manager. Taught by experienced managers and local government experts, this five-course, 15-session certificate program will impart real-life experience, best practices, and sound advice in the areas most important to a manager’s day-to-day role.”

I’ve been working to get up to speed on things Rick is dealing with and joining in on meetings where I can. We recently had a productive meeting with Lincoln County administrator Tim Johnson and a healthy introduction to the city’s budgeting process from Tom Lauritzen. I appreciate the institutional knowledge he can share with me; I take notes feverishly any chance I get with these fine folks who have experience and expertise to share with me.

Rick will be available to support me as we make this transition with the hope that it will be smooth. He will be available to continue filling me in on the status of projects and to provide advice. Senior advisers are also available through the ICMA to advise from their experience and careers as they are retired city managers.

Q: Yachats’ has an unusual form of government — very involved commissions that are supposed to help in certain areas — that some previous city managers have struggled with. What do you think of the commission system and how will you work within that?

BP: A commission system like the one Yachats has in place has advantages and challenges. Yachats is uniquely positioned with intelligent and skilled people ready to give their time and expertise in decision-making. That said, I see how it could also create complexities.

I think the key to working with the commission system effectively is fostering clear communication, collaboration, and understanding. Commission chairs are brought together with open dialogue and clear communication that Rick Sant has fostered with regular meetings to discuss priorities and goals.

It will be beneficial to continue to define roles and responsibilities, especially when new members join commissions, by providing necessary training and resources to new members. Clarity helps avoid any confusion. Overall, I think the most important things are to stay open to feedback, adapt as circumstances change, have an open mind, and foster collaboration for the benefit of the community.

 

Q: For a city its size, Yachats has a bunch of pent-up demand to complete some visible (library, Little Log Church Museum, boardwalk, etc.) and some not so visible (water, public works) projects. How do you plan to get up to speed on those and get some under way and done? Related to that — do you think the city should bring in an outside project manager to help with that?

BP: I will first assess the current status of each project. I need to evaluate and understand who has already done what, where they are in the process, identify barriers, and determine the resources required to complete them.

Depending on their status and place in the process, engaging with the community to gather input regarding project priorities, meetings, workshops, or surveys could be beneficial.

From there, we will need to create a roadmap based on the assessment of each project’s status. A clear plan outlining project priorities, timelines, and resource needs will guide efficient progress and reporting. If partnerships are needed, we will need to spend time collaborating with various stakeholders or organizations. If necessary, we will need to identify potential funding sources, whether it be grants, public-private partnerships, or community fundraisers.

As to the question of bringing in an outside project manager, it absolutely could be a beneficial option, especially with so many large projects to be accomplished. Bringing in a project manager can provide specialized expertise and streamline the processes and project execution. It will be necessary for me to be in the position to assess the city’s resources and budget before making such a decision.

Q: Some previous city managers — in hindsight — apparently did not communicate well with or manage city staff to a professional level. What’s your approach to working with staff, both in city hall and in public works?

BP: In my opinion and experience, it is essential to prioritize effective communication, which I believe Rick Sant has excellently laid the foundation for. Along with that comes empowerment, collaboration, and professional development. When an environment is created where staff members feel valued, motivated, and supported, teamwork, pride, and success are fostered. This applies to both city hall and public works. We’re all a team providing the necessary services to the citizens of Yachats.

This includes spending time with staff, actively listening, encouraging participation, clearly defining roles, responsibilities, and outcomes, and having clear and tangible goals and accountability to achieve those goals. It is imperative to ensure the staff has the tools and resources to fulfill their roles.

The teams at city hall and in public works are great people. I look forward to being their glue, empowering them, encouraging innovative thinking, acknowledging, appreciating, and rewarding their hard work and achievements.

Q: For better or worse, Yachats has a very involved community compared to many its size or larger who want to either help or who have opinions on how things should be run or done. How do you plan to deal with that?

BP: Every community is unique, and each one faces its own set of challenges. This is where my transferable skills will be most valuable. I have a deep understanding of the community and its people, and I am familiar with many of the challenges it faces. I am also a natural leader and willing to listen to others.

My “newness” to the profession is also an asset. I am not jaded by the system, and I am not afraid to ask questions. I am also willing to do the necessary research to determine if laws can help the community, if resources are available, or if all affected groups are on the same page. I am also willing to get involved early in decision-making to ensure the community’s voice is heard.

I recognize there are and will always be diverse opinions within the community. We can focus on finding common ground and reaching a compromise using consensus-building to ensure decisions are made collectively.

 

Q: Manager and council relations are important. How do you plan to communicate and manage your role — operations and personnel — with the council’s policy role?

BP: As I have said previously, I truly believe communication is crucial to effective working relationships. Communication is key, and it must be clear and frequent. I will schedule regular meetings with each council member to discuss policies, updates, and priorities. This communication will be essential to aligning my operational goals and personnel decision-making with the council’s policy objectives.

I will actively involve council members and seek their input on critical decisions whenever appropriate. I also plan to keep the council updated regularly to maintain transparency. Communication, regular meetings, and a team approach will help me build relationships with each council member. Investing time and effort will help me foster collaboration with trust and respect.

Q: What’s the main difference between your current job and one you are about to embark on?

BP: I will have a large team to work with me on city projects. This is going to be really focused on the livability of the city and being a public servant to the citizens. And ensuring they have the necessities of clean and plentiful drinking water and the wastewater being treated properly, which we have great people doing, and continuing great quality service. It’s a lot more citizen-based and service-based, public servant-based than it is fun event-based.

It’s going to be a lot different, a lot different. But I truly really do care about the community of Yachats. And I look forward to supporting the community at that level, also working with the council at the decision and policy level.

• Garret Jaros is YachatsNews’ full-time reporter and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com

• The city is hosting a reception for Price from 1-2:30 p.m. Dec. 14 in the Yachats Commons.